"It's time, Noah."
"I've raised you for so many years and spent so much money on you, all for this moment."
"Go to the other world and find Lumen Histoire with its infinite Magic Power for me."
"Then we…"
The old man, crowned and draped in a heavy black cloak, stood at approximately fifty years old with a full head of white hair. He passionately described his grand vision to the handsome young man lounging on the sofa.
However, as the only listener, the young man merely yawned disinterestedly, lying on the sofa with a snack in one hand and a beauty magazine in the other. His ambitious father's words went in one ear and out the other, completely ignored.
After King Faust's passionate speech concluded, the second prince, Noah, finally spoke unhurriedly. "Dad, do you really believe that Earth Lander named Ivan Dreyar?"
"Infinite Magic Power sounds too far-fetched. If you ask me, stop struggling. Our world's Magic depletion is just that—depletion. Isn't it better for everything to return to normal?"
Noah's lack of enthusiasm infuriated Faust. He looked at his son with a determined expression, his voice so loud it didn't sound like someone his age. "Why should it return to normal? I will defy fate for Edolas! I will challenge the heavens!"
Noah shrugged, not speaking further.
This world is called Edolas, and within its land exists a transcendent energy—Magic.
This is a miraculous power that can empower various Magic items, granting them incredible abilities. The profession of using Magic items is called a Mage.
Countless years passed, and with the passage of time, the land's Magic gradually weakened, now reaching the point of imminent depletion.
The "Age of Depleted Magic" had already descended upon the world of Edolas.
But the extreme king of the human kingdom, Faust, was unwilling to give up this extraordinary power, and for this, he began a bold plan.
To plunder the Magic of another world!
The kingdom possesses a super-dimensional Magic called Anima, which can temporarily connect to Edolas's parallel world, Earth Land, where even the air is filled with Magic particles, and the Magic abundance is dozens of times that of Edolas.
Anima can transform the Magic of Earth Land into Magic crystals and transfer them back to Edolas.
However, because Earth Land is rich in Magic, humans there are born with Magic within their bodies, and most Mages do not need Magic items to cast spells. Therefore, Anima has a chance of transmitting Earth Landers as Magic back to Edolas.
And eighteen years ago, when Faust activated Anima for the second time, an unlucky Earth Lander was transmitted over.
His name was Ivan Dreyar, a Mage skilled in Illusion Magic.
Upon discovering that the world he arrived in had a lower power level than his original world, Ivan's ambition swelled rapidly, and he attempted to usurp Faust's rule.
But because Edolas's Magic was depleted, Ivan could not replenish his Magic Power, so he was eventually captured alive after his Magic ran out.
Faust initially wanted to execute Ivan, but the spineless man immediately knelt and begged for mercy, offering a plan that could bring infinite Magic to this world.
According to Ivan, in Earth Land, there is a Magic guild called Fairy Tail. Although this guild is a Legal Guild, it has a dark side—that is, it possesses Lumen Histoire with infinite Magic Power.
Faust believed Ivan's words.
As a similar parallel world, Edolas also has a Mage guild called Fairy Tail.
They were righteous and helpful but caused too much trouble, so Faust had long since driven them out of the royal capital to assist the Royal Army in border town construction. Eighteen years later, Noah heard that they now had a good relationship with Erza Knightwalker, the commander of the Second Royal Army stationed at the border.
Although he believed Ivan's words, the man who so easily betrayed the intelligence of his former faction made King Faust thoroughly displeased.
So Ivan did not receive the esteemed guest treatment he hoped for, but instead enjoyed prison food, being locked up for eighteen years.
For eighteen years, for reasons unknown, whenever Faust was in a bad mood, he would go to the prison and beat Ivan to relax.
After learning about the existence of "infinite Magic" in the parallel world, Faust also tried to use Anima to lock onto the Fairy Tail of the other world.
But without exception, they all failed.
The reason was that there was an extremely powerful magical being in that Magic guild, far exceeding the upper limit that Anima could handle.
Faust then had a flash of inspiration: since he couldn't take it by force, why not send a spy to that guild to steal Lumen Histoire?
Those loyal to Faust in the kingdom were not capable enough, and Faust did not dare to fully entrust important tasks to those who were capable, so he began a "human creation" project.
Using his own genes and those of his deceased wife, along with extremely precious pure Magic, Faust successfully cultivated an artificial infant with innate Magic in an artificial womb. That child was named Noah.
To ensure Noah's eternal loyalty, Faust decided to bind him with familial affection, so the iron-hearted king began to diligently play the role of a good father.
But what Faust hadn't expected was that after a few years of interaction, compared to the young and innocent Noah at the time, he was the one who was first affected by familial affection.
The so-called acting became genuine, and Faust gave all the love he owed his eldest son to Noah.
Noah did not inherit his mother's deep blue hair, but his father's white hair, bearing some resemblance to his never-before-seen elder brother.
With excellent genes and the best resources, Noah, though only recently an adult, was already Edolas's strongest human warrior, mastering exquisite martial arts and combat techniques, and adept at using various Magic items.
Although Faust was satisfied with his son's growth, one problem always bothered him.
As Noah grew up, he was indeed powerful, but his behavior was too laid-back. Aside from fixed training times, he mostly idled away in the palace every day.
Looking at his son giggling at a beauty magazine, almost literally wearing "slacking off" on his face, Faust was furious. How did his good son become so spoiled by him?
He knocked over the snacks in Noah's hand and crushed them forcefully in front of Noah, then snatched the beauty magazine to tear it… no, he couldn't tear it; he hadn't read it yet.
"You brat, you eat my food, drink my drinks, use my things."
"I ask you to do one thing, and it's always an excuse! You've dragged it out until you're an adult. Are you playing games with me?"
"I'll ask you one last time, are you going to Earth Land or not?"
Faust put on a stern face, delivering his final ultimatum to Noah.
But Noah still lay listlessly on the sofa. He had experienced such scenes too many times in the past two years; as long as he played dead and slacked off, his old father would be helpless.
"You scoundrel!"
After cursing, Faust's angry expression quickly disappeared, replaced by a triumphant smile.
"You brat, after you finished training and came back today, did you notice that some things were missing from your palace?"
Hearing Faust's strange tone, Noah could no longer pretend to be dead. From what he knew of his old father, he was definitely going to take some coercive measures against him.
Scanning the familiar palace, Noah immediately noticed something was wrong: his Magic items and weapons were all gone!
Before Noah could figure out what his old father was going to do, the palace shook violently. A beam of rich, pale golden light burst through the palace from above, precisely locking onto Noah.
The powerful Magic flow in the light caused Noah to float upwards. He recognized this Magic, which he had heard of but never seen with his own eyes.
The super-dimensional Magic Anima, which hadn't been activated for eighteen years!
No, it was Anima activated in reverse!
Dad is going to forcibly transport me to Earth Land?
Although he saw through Faust's plan, because of the innate Magic in his body, Noah, locked by Anima, was unable to break free.
"Don't struggle. After eighteen years of charging, Anima's Magic is not something you can shake, boy."
Faust casually walked up to Noah. Apart from Noah, no other Edolas resident had Magic in their bodies; unless they actively entered the light beam, they would not be locked by Anima.
"Noah, this is the last lesson your father will teach you."
"Human hearts are treacherous. Even the closest people might stab you in the back."
Noah's face showed no surprise or dissatisfaction at being betrayed; instead, it was a sense of helplessness and reluctance. "At a time like this, you're still trying to play the villain and deceive me. Can't you just speak your true feelings, Dad?"
Faust was slightly stunned, then showed a bitter smile. "You did notice, didn't you…"
"Of course. Is there anyone who knows my own body better than I do?"
Noah opened his palm. He was an artificial human, and the only human in Edolas capable of containing Magic within his body.
It was this difference that brought Noah a great crisis in this world.
The depletion of the land's Magic was merely an evolution from the extraordinary to the ordinary for the humans of this world, but for Noah, it was a deadly change.
Because he was born with Magic, if the Magic in this world disappeared, there was a high probability that Noah would suffer from "Magic deficiency syndrome." No matter how strong his physical constitution, he would decline towards death at an incredible speed.
Noah knew this well.
Faust also knew it well. He dared not gamble on that tiny probability. He no longer cared about infinite Magic; he only wanted his child to be safe.
In the brief silence between father and son, Noah was already being pulled out of the palace by the Anima beam. There was only about a minute left for farewells.
"Noah!"
Faust suddenly shouted his son's name, throwing a palm-sized item from his embrace into the teleportation beam.
Noah caught the Magic item flowing upwards with the Magic. This exquisite small figurine of a humanoid mechanical dragon was Edolas's strongest weapon—Dorma Anim!
Noah hadn't expected his old father to entrust him with the national treasure.
Looking at his son, who was getting higher and higher, Faust seized the last opportunity to speak to Noah. "If you see your elder brother Jellal in Earth Land, please convey a message from me."
"I… am sorry for him."
Noah smiled easily. Being able to see the softness in his old father's heart at the moment of parting seemed rather nice.
However, he couldn't let his old father have his way.
"Dad, I won't relay your message."
"When I come back with Big Brother and a way to save Magic, you can tell him yourself!"
"Dad, you also take good care of yourself! Wait for us to come back!"
The pale golden light became dazzling, and the brilliant glow flashed and vanished, disappearing along with Noah.
Faust stared blankly at the sky, which had returned to its lime-green hue. He looked as if he had aged several years in an instant.
You take care too… Noah.